


Live and Breathe

by BloodEnvy



Category: Veronica Mars (TV), Veronica Mars - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Post-Episode: s01e4 The Wrath of Con, Pre-Relationship, Skinny Dipping, night swimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 06:09:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15261096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodEnvy/pseuds/BloodEnvy
Summary: Veronica crosses skinny-dipping off her Lilly-inspired bucket list, but she isn’t the only one on the beach stumbling down memory lane.





	Live and Breathe

Veronica gasped out a laugh as the frigid water enveloped her fully, soaking her naked skin. Goosebumps erupted across her flesh and the taste of salt tingled on her lips. She dove under the water, heedless of her makeup and her curled hair, exalting in the feeling of the night’s diminished waves breaking against her as she came up for air.  
  
The moon lit up the waves in a ghostly light, and she could barely make out the details of the limo waiting for her by the road. Seaweed tangled around her toes for a second before being swept away by the current. Maybe this wasn’t exactly the sexy, booze-fueled kind of skinny dipping Lilly would have had in mind for her first time… her best friend would have had it as a salacious rendezvous with some attractive, older guy or a drunken interlude to a party between the two of them; one where they could share secrets and talk of boys and the plans they could share for the future.  
  
A future Lilly wasn’t ever going to have…  
  
Her fingers found the pendent hanging from her neck, wrapping around it, and she breathed a plume of misty air into the sky. Maybe this wasn’t what Lilly would have planned for Veronica’s introduction to the scandalous world of skinny dipping, but maybe her best friend would be proud that Veronica was finally crossing something off her “Never Have I Ever” list.  
  
“Veronica Mars?” Veronica spun in the water, sending an arc of water flying around her as her arms instinctively came up to wrap around her chest despite the depth. “As I live and breathe.”  
  
“Logan?!”  
  
He was standing on the shoreline, his features barely discernable in the dark at the distance he was. He wasn’t dressed for the dance; he was wearing jeans, a tee shirt and a tan jacket. He also hadn’t seemed to notice her dress and shoes lying in an unceremonious pile a few feet from his left. A bottle dangled from his fingertips, in a constant state of limbo, and his expression, from what she could see, matched his tone— his seemingly default of cutting sarcasm tinged with what looked like genuine confusion.  
  
“Shouldn’t you be grinding the night away with Duncan two point oh? Vertically or otherwise…” He glances over his shoulder, towards the road. “Tell the truth, did you hook up with him just for that swanky rented ride, Veronica? Exchanging rides for rides,” He giggled.  
  
Veronica’s arms tightened around her chest, and she moved forward enough for her toes to sink into the sand. He hadn’t seemed to notice yet that she was seriously lacking any sartorial back up. Hoping to distract both him and herself from that, she returned a barb of her own. “What about you, Logan? Shouldn’t you be at Homecoming with a floozy on each arm? Or did Neptune High’s female population finally realize you’re about as charming as Charlie Sheen on a come down?”  
  
“I’m carrying on the tradition, Ronnie,” he says, opening his arms grandly. A little bit of the bottles contents slops onto his hand, and the label catches what little light there is.  
  
“Is that champagne?”  
  
He snickered, holding the bottle up in a mock toast to her and taking a swig. The smirk on his face isn’t mocking, she realized, it’s bitter. “Couldn’t remember the exact vintage we had that night, Mars, but I’ll let you know a little secret us high-society types don’t want you lowly working-class people to know…” he leant forward, stage whispering conspiratorially. He stumbled slightly as he did. “They all taste the same.”  
  
She rolled her eyes as he took another drink, brushing wet hair behind her ear. She had to wonder what was happening in the car that was distracting Troy and the others from checking on her. The most likely conclusion was that Wallace was insisting she needed time alone. Curse her independent spirit.  
  
“How much of that have you had, Logan?”  
  
Logan straightened, taking a few steps into the waves, soaking the bottom few inches of his jeans. “Why so interested, Veronica? You want a sip?” He smirks, holding the bottle out to her. “You finally taking a page out of your mother’s book?”  
  
Veronica’s expression hardened, and she turned away from him. She wished she could just walk back to the limo and leave him there, but as long as he was on the sand, she was trapped in the water. Determined to move away from him anyway, she swam further out. She heard him splash further into the spray.  
  
“Wai— Veronica, wait!” She wasn’t sure if it was the surprising amount of earnestness in Logan’s voice that stopped her, or the fact that a significant number of missing person cases her dad handled as Sheriff were drunk college students who wanted to go for a swim. They’d be found a few days later, washed up on the shore.  
  
“What do you want, Logan?”  
  
He smiled at her as if he’d won something, and maybe he had. After all, he’d drawn her back in. “What are you doing here, Veronica? Shouldn’t you be making moon-eyes at your trust fund boy toy?”  
  
“Shouldn’t you?” She shot back. “I don’t see Dick anywhere. Aren’t you two usually joined at the puka shell necklace?”  
  
He laughs, glancing back over his shoulder. “Seriously, Veronica. What are you doing in the ocean in the middle of the night?”  
  
“What are you?”  
  
“Getting drunk and wondering why it’s so damn cold in the middle of October?”  
  
“And that has nothing to with the fact that you’re almost knee deep in the ocean,” said Veronica. The chill was clinging to the exposed skin of her face, to the water in her hair.  
  
“Consider my breath well and truly bated, here.”  
  
Veronica sighed, her voice quietening. “Remembering Lilly.”  
  
Logan’s expression softens for a moment in hurt, but the snark returns quickly. “And you had to go swimming in the middle of the night be…” he trails off for a moment, eyes widening. “Mars, are you naked?”  
  
Veronica slaps her arms back over her chest so fast it send an arc of water splashing out in front of her. “Only in the… technical sense of the word.”  
  
Logan bursts into laughter, stumbling when he loses his balance. “Why, Miss Mars, I do declare.”  
  
She rolls her eyes, lips pursed. Tiny waves jostle her slightly as they break against her back. “Glad to be such a source of entertainment for you.”  
  
“And why isn’t dear Troy here to test the waters?”  
  
She glared at him. Dear god, why couldn’t this be like a sitcom where Troy would just appear by his side to rescue me by some freakish chance of excellent timing?  
  
“If you’re done laughing, would you mind turning around so I can get dressed?” She asked, mustering up as much disdainful nonchalance as she could. “Or better yet, you could just scamper off back to wherever it is you go when you’re not terrorizing anyone without a platinum card.”  
  
Logan gave her a devilish smile, setting the bottle down on the wet sand. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you, Mars? Skinny dipping is a team sport.”  
  
Logan shrugged off his jacket and was pulling off his shirt before Veronica had fully comprehended his intention. She caught a glimpse of his stomach and chest before she slapped a hand over her eyes, the other still wrapped firmly tucked against her chest.  
  
“Logan, please don’t… please just stay on the…” She heard him splash into the water and the sound of steady, if not a little disjointed, strokes through the surf. Keeping her eyes firmly closed, the hand covering them came out to ward him off, her finger extended warningly. “I’m warning you, Logan. Do not touch me, I swear to God…”  
  
“Relax, Mars. What do you take me for?” His voice came from her left, and she span awkwardly in the water, losing her footing on the sand. Her chin hit the water, and she caught herself, spluttering. Logan laughed, and she scowled. “You can open your eyes, Veronica. Whatever virtue you have left is well and truly protected.”  
  
Veronica’s scowl deepened, but after a few moments, she slowly opened her eyes. Her guess had been a little off, and she had to turn slightly to her right to face him. He was a few feet from her— a surprisingly respectful distance— up to his chest in the cold water. His bare shoulders and chest stood out against the dark of the ocean, his tan skin pale in the moonlight. One hand was above water, clinging to the neck of the champagne.  
  
His lips were curved in a small smile, and his eyes glittered with mischief. “You stay at that distance, Logan. I mean it.”  
  
He rolled his eyes, pushing water through his hair. “How is you can even take the fun out of nudity?”  
  
“It’s a gift.” She deadpanned in response.  
  
Logan took another draw from the bottle, the moonlight highlighting the curve of his neck as he tipped his head back. “So how does you being naked in…” he looked around him, “…freezing water have anything to do with my girlfriend?”  
  
Veronica shrugged, glancing back up at the beach. How had the others seriously not come looking for her yet? “Don’t you remember?”  
  
“I remember a lot of things from that night, in varying levels of haziness.” Logan said, shrugging. “But blurred or not, you being naked was never one of them. That I would have remembered.”  
  
What’s that supposed to mean? Veronica thought, before shaking it off. “The game we played. Never Have I Ever.”  
  
Logan’s brow furrowed for a long moment, before he snapped his fingers, pointing at her. “You’ve never done it before.” Veronica nodded, and his roguish smile returned, “Well, look at you, Veronica Mars.”  
  
“Oh, shut up.”  
  
Logan held out the bottle to her, “Want some?” She shook her head, and he rolled his eyes. “You want to mark the anniversary, don’t you? Why not do it properly?”  
  
Veronica screwed up her nose, but when he held it out again, she reconsidered. “This better not be a trick.”  
  
“God, Veronica, were you always this uptight?” He balanced the bottle in the water and gave it a little push in her direction. It bobbed towards her and she snagged it up. She gave him one more suspicious look before bringing it to her lips. The champagne was warm compared to the water, the tart bubbles bursting against her tongue and mingling with the salt from the water.  
  
She sent it floating back his way after another sip, and he caught it, grinning. “Check out the wild child.” She rolled her eyes at him, and his smile widened. “So, is it everything you expected it to be?”  
  
“The company is unexpected,” Veronica told him, and he chuckled. There was a long pause between them, and Veronica rubbed her arms self-consciously before speaking. “That memorial video was beautiful, Logan.”  
  
He waves his hand forward in a small, mock-bow. “Truly my finest works.”  
  
Veronica shook her head in exasperation. “You’re impossible.”  
  
“Makes things interesting, doesn’t it?”  
  
“That’s one word for it.”  
  
Logan smiles at her, but there’s a sad edge to it. “You miss her too.”  
  
Veronica pauses, surprised. Then she nods slowly, “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”  
  
“What did I do wrong, Veronica?” He moves towards her slightly, and while Veronica’s arms aren’t still around her chest, she holds them out slightly in the water, warding. But he doesn’t invade her space, he just stands there with her, head bowed slightly. “Why couldn’t she love me?”  
  
“Logan…”  
  
He shakes his head, scoffing. “You know what, forget it. I’m just drunk, right?”  
  
Veronica reaches out in the dark water, finding his hand and catching it with her own. He turns to meet her eyes, surprise registering in his. “Logan. Lilly loved you. I know she did.”  
  
The corner of his mouth turns upwards slightly, “Sure. Whatever.” Even as he said it, his hand squeezed hers in the water.  
  
“Logan…”  
  
“Veronica! What the hell are you doing, girl? Let’s go! We’re gonna miss all that twist and shout fun!”  
  
Troy’s voice sang out from the roadside, full of laughter and exasperation, and Veronica’s head whipped in his direction. She couldn’t make him out in the dark, and she relaxed slightly; how would she explain away taking a spur-of-the-moment midnight swim with Logan Echolls?  
  
Logan’s fingers tightened their grip for the briefest of moments before he released his hold on her hand, and Veronica had to remind herself to pull her hand away too; it spent a few moments still outstretched, suspended in the inky, cold water.  
  
She starts towards the beach for a moment before remembering her current state of undress, and stopped, glancing back at Logan. “You mind?”  
  
Logan sighed, raising his hands. She wasn’t sure where the champagne bottle went. “You take the fun out of everything, you know that, Ronnie?” He slapped a hand over his eyes, a smile still playing on his lips. “I promise I won’t peek.”  
  
Veronica watches him suspiciously for a moment, before Troy yells again. “I’m coming!” She calls back, before whispering to Logan. “Not. One. Peek.”  
  
“Hand to God, Veronica Mars.”  
  
Veronica moved to shore and dress quickly, heedless of her dress and the water’s effect on satin. It wasn’t until she was picking up her shoes that she dared glance back at the man in the water. He still had the hand over his eyes, his smile still in place. “Okay.”  
  
Logan dropped his hand, his head tilting slightly as he regarded her. “What is that, silk?”  
  
“Uh…” Caught off guard, Veronica glanced down at herself. The dress clung in weird places and was already dripping slightly. He curls were long gone. She was… in a word, bedraggled. “Satin.”  
  
“It’s a good look for you.” He studied her for another long moment before he gave her that old shit-eating grin. “Nice seeing you, Mars.”


End file.
